Web Soil Survey now available for all of Hawai’i, American Samoa, and Micronesia

Tue, 02/04/2014 - 2:35pm

HONOLULU — Curious about the ground beneath you? The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has updated the soil data for each of the soil survey areas mapped in the Pacific Islands Area (PIA). This effort updated the spatial (soil mapping) and tabular (physical and chemical properties, and interpretations) data for all soil survey areas.

These surveys cover the State of Hawai’i, the Territory of American Samoa, the Territory of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

Web Soil Survey (WSS) is the most widely used web site for accessing soil information used to make important land use decisions.

On the web site, WSS soil maps are overlain on satellite imagery and users can make custom soil maps and interpretation reports.

The updated data means that WSS will work for all PIA soil surveys.

This is the first time WSS has worked for PIA soil surveys outside of Hawai’i.

“We are excited to have this data readily available for our customers and partners,” said Christine Clarke, Acting Director for the NRCS Pacific Islands Area. “Accurate and timely soil survey information is critical to those managing our natural resources. It is exciting to provide this information to the public to support sound decision making and wise land use choices.”

For more information about Web Soil Survey please contact Dr. Cindy Stiles at cynthia.stiles@hi.usda.gov for assistance with soil surveys in Hawai’i and American Samoa or Dr. Bob Gavenda at bob.gavenda@pb.usda.gov for assistance with soil surveys in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Territory of Guam, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.